In the wide-open farmland of southern Minnesota, Prairie Star Wind Farm turns wind into a “second crop” of clean electricity. The wind farm is located 15 miles east of Austin along the Minnesota state line and includes farmland in the Clayton, Bennington, Marshall, and Grand Meadow townships in Mower County.

Recent Comments

Archives

Categories

Meta

Our Farm’s

Gallery

Farm Facts

Farm Fact #1

Energy Output

Prairie Star Wind Farm has an installed capacity of 100.65 megawatts (MW) — enough to power approximately 34,000 average Minnesota homes with clean energy each year

Enough to power approximately

34,000 Homes

Farm Fact #2

Benefits to the Community

Prairie Star Wind Farm yields significant economic benefits to the community in the form of payments to landowners, local spending, and annual community investment.

Prairie Star represents a capital investment of approximately $221 million and has dispersed $2.9 million in cumulative payments to local governments through 2018. The project created 114 full-time equivalent jobs during construction as well as 34 permanent jobs. Through 2018, approximately $24.6 million has been spent within 50 miles of the wind farm.

Farm Fact #3

Benefits to the Environment

Prairie Star Wind Farm saves more than 178 million gallons of water each year and displaces carbon emissions from fossil fuel power plants, a major contributor to climate change. Wind energy also enhances air quality by helping to mitigate the health effects of harmful air pollutants.

178 Million

Gallons of Water Saved Each Year

Farm Fact #4

Landowners

Prairie Star Wind Farm is compatible with other land uses and provides a stable form of income to local landowners. More than $8.5 million has been paid to the wind farm’s landowners through 2018. These supportive landowners participate in long-term lease and easement agreements that cover turbines, access roads, and transmission corridors.

Farm Fact #5

Technology

Modern wind turbine generators are sophisticated, high-tech machines designed to capture the kinetic energy of the wind and convert it into electricity. A turbine’s blades capture the wind and rotate an internal shaft connected to a gearbox spinning a generator to produce electricity. Tubular steel towers support a hub with three attached blades and a nacelle, which houses the shaft, gearbox, generator, and controls. Wind measurements are collected to automatically rotate the turbine to face the strongest wind and angle, or “pitch,” its blades to optimize the energy captured. Electricity must be produced at just the right frequency and voltage to be compatible with the utility grid.